Well, if you’ve been excited for Disney’s upcoming film Hexed, we’ve got…sort of good news — there’s another movie coming out that’s pretty darn similar.

Hexed doesn’t come out until November 25th, 2026, but there’s a new film called Steps coming to Netflix just a few days earlier on November 20th, and it’s got an extremely similar premise. Enough so that fans have started to notice, and it’s looking like some fans might be switching sides. It’s possible more people may be staying home to watch the Netflix film instead of heading to the theatre.

Premise & Plot

According to IMDb, the premise of Disney’s Hexed is “An awkward teen and her Type-A mother learn her peculiarities might be magical powers, transforming their lives and revealing a hidden magical realm.” We’ve got magic, that’s for sure, and we recently learned through an interview with the creatives of the film that it heavily focuses on the relationship between mother and daughter. The family aspect of the film is really what drives the plot, from what we learned, and is something that the creators worked very hard on to make sure it comes across as authentic and real.

As for Netflix’s upcoming film Steps, according to IMDb, the premise is “Blamed for magical mischief at the Royal Ball, stepsister Lilith turns her sister into a frog. She must work with Cinderella and a troll to save the kingdom and prove villains deserve happy endings too.” Similar to Hexed, this film does focus on the family dynamic, but this is between sisters instead of mother and daughter. Plus, one of them turns into a frog, which is also pretty different (as far as we know) from Hexed.

Alright, so they both deal with family and magic, but how similar really are they?

Animation Style

Yes, both films are also animated, and at a quick glance, they look similar, but there are some key differences here. Disney’s animation style for Hexed is largely the same as what we’ve seen in the Frozen films, as well as Onward and Elio. This is very similar to their regular style of animation now, though it’s a far cry from the 2D animation of the past. The skin is smooth, and a lot of the design is rounded out in a way.

As for Steps, the animation style here is full of sharper edges, and has almost more of a “kid-ish” feel to it. It’s more a style of animation we see in TV shows for kids, which often feature more abnormal proportions for human beings. It’s part of the fantastical world being created, but it does set it apart from Hexed in design.

This could partly be because Disney has focused Hexed to be more grounded in relationships, and magic just happens to be a way of connection (as well as tension), whereas, if Steps is indeed geared more towards kids, it may be more focused on the humor of one sister turning the other into a frog…which, to be fair, is indeed hilarious.

Main Character & Sidekicks

Now, seeing our two main characters side by side, we will say that they do have some similar features. Both have dark eyes and dark hair, and since Steps‘ protagonist often wears purple, it gives her hair a purple shine, making it look a little similar to the main character of Hexed, Billie.

However, looking closer, they do have notable differences, such as their height, the length of their hair, their ages, the way they carry themselves, and, of course, their personalities. The similarities aren’t to be ignored, but it’s important to also notice the differences between the two.

Now, as for their sidekicks, it does appear that both have non-people as some of their adventure buddies, but one is a frog, and the other is…whatever this is. 

For Steps, we know that the frog is actually a human as well, so does that really count? We’ll allow it since it’s the premise of the film, but it seems that Hexed has some truly “out of this world” characters we’re looking forward to seeing more of.

What Are Other People Saying?

When we posted the trailer for Steps on our Instagram, we noticed that some people did think that the two films are pretty similar. User @sarahrimokh commented, “Why do all these animated characters look the same in every movie The girl looks like the same girl from Hexed.” However, their comment got two very different replies: user @sarrrah.smith replied, “Seriously!” while user @daydreamer_064 said, “They don’t look ANYTHING alike.”

Another user, @cerise.badwolf, pointed out that since the storylines are similar in a way, they may see some of the same criticisms, saying, “It looks like a good movie. One that could probably fall subject to a lot of the same criticisms people are throwing at hexed but it’s almost like most of that outrage is selective and manufactured anyway.” @lwd_29, another commenter on the post, pointed out that they feel it looks better than Hexed, saying, “the Cranberries song is so good it’s making me want to watch this. And yes it absolutely looks better than Hexed.”

The good news is that both films will be family-friendly and great for all ages, so you’ll have TWO movies to watch for in the same week! Want to check out one of our newest videos over on DFB? Check out our video below!

Be sure to stay tuned to DFB for all the latest Disney news!

“That Makes This A Very Human Story In A Very Fantastical World” Disney Reveals New Details On ‘Hexed’

Which film are you looking forward to more? Tell us in the comments!